Rutgers, USDA, SNAP, Team Up for SNAP Ed 4 Me.org

New Jersey is a state characterized by both extreme wealth and poverty. As of March 2013, New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants totaled 864,255 living in 428,430 households. Estimates by the emergency feeding network indicate that 1,188,219 people in New Jersey are at-risk for hunger.

To help limited-resource adults and families who qualify for benefits reduce their risk for food insecurity through a collaborative effort of SNAP with the Rutgers University Agricultural Experiment Station and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to improve nutrition education aimed toward maximization of current food-related resources — and identification of additional food resources — as needed to ensure food security.

Select to Protect is campaign designed to help parents feed their children better on a budget. We want to help you feed the children you care for in a heathy way, and to help you help them to be active enough to stay fit!

The Faithfully Fit initiative collaborates with faith-based organizations to help those in need eat well on a budget. Faithfully Fit serves patrons of food pantries and soup kitchens supported by faith-based organizations, as well as churches that serve largely SNAP-eligible congregants. The program also serves youth at churches where the children hail from schools where 50% or more of the students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunches.

The websites have “How To” sections where SNAP participants can go to get information on where to access healthy foods/beverages (like Farmers’ Markets that accept SNAP benefits and WIC vouchers) and lists of places where people can go to be physically active in fun ways with their families in their own communities. New events and new sites are being added on an ongoing basis, so keep coming back!

Healthy recipes made from mostly ingredients people already have in their homes, or that are available to them locally (e.g., at local farmers market). They also contain recipes made from vegetables that people aren’t sure what to do with! The recipe section is a GREAT resource for people who are learning to cook…especially new moms and teens!